Ashley Judd knows all too well about tragic loss, the time for advocacy, and the need to speak truth to power. Between back-to-back speaking engagements at the White House on suicide prevention and at the United Nations on advancing global economic and educational opportunities and reproductive rights for women, Ms. Judd took the time to speak in Concord.
On May 1, the National Trust for Historic Preservation designated Minute Man National Historical Park, Walden and nearby historic landmarks as one of “America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places” due to an investment banker’s proposal to develop 47 acres of private luxury jet infrastructure at Hanscom Airport. Ms. Judd spoke out against the egregious nature and impacts of this environmentally unsound private jetport planned to be located amidst the heart of the National Park, Great Meadows, and Walden — which she noted as “the very site known nationally and internationally as the iconic symbol that inspires a clarion call to honor and protect the natural world we share with all living species.”
Judd, as a U.N. Goodwill Ambassador, has seen firsthand the devastation of abject poverty in the poorest corners of the world and the effects of climate change already being felt by those who have never seen a plane, let alone flown in one. She stated: “Private jet travel is the most carbon intensive form of transportation we can engage in per passenger mile. This [Hanscom] example of population inequity as it relates to perpetrating climate injustice is something we must immediately address.”
Ashley Judd implored us to honor the sacrifice of the embattled farmers in 1775 by speaking up, actively advocating, and by signing the savingplaces.org petition to urge the governor and the U.S. Secretary of Transportation to halt this indefensible, harmful project.
Anna West Winter
Executive Director, Save Our Heritage